People & Entertainment: CNN host, pro-gun guest face off

Jones, a conservative radio talk show host, is the person behind a petition submitted to the White House seeking to have Morgan deported to the United Kingdom because of his support for tighter gun control.

According to CNN.com, Jones said Monday on “Piers Morgan Tonight” that he and others started the petition to point out that “we have all of these foreigners” and globalist forces, including “megabanks that control the planet,” trying to take away American guns.

He yelled at Morgan that “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! It doesn’t matter how many lemmings (mindless followers) you get out on the street begging for them to have their guns taken! We will not relinquish them! Do you understand?”

Amid conspiracy theories that the Sept. 11 attacks were an inside job and that the country is in danger from antidepressant “mass murder pills” like Prozac, Jones also challenged Morgan to a boxing match and mocked his British accent, LATimes.com reported.

As the video of the interview circulated on social media Tuesday, Morgan told Politico.com that Jones was “the best advertisement for gun control you could wish for.”

“That kind of vitriol, hatred and zealotry is really quite scary,” Morgan said. “I didn’t feel threatened by him, but I’m concerned that someone like him has that level of influence. There’s got to be a level of discourse that can rise above what happened last night. It was undignified, unedifying.”

Some social media reactions, according to CNN.com:

New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen called the interview a “meltdown.” The Huffington Post said, “Piers Morgan’s pro-gun guest goes absolutely nuts.”

But Jones retweeted a supportive note from Gerald Celente, the U.S. trends forecaster and author. “Bravo,” the tweet said, praising Jones for “punching out CNN Presstitute Piers Morgan.”

First ‘Idol’ barbs for each other

PASADENA, Calif. – Five minutes into their season-opening news conference and the new team at “American Idol” was having its first disagreement — about disagreements. Then Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj kept it going.

“We’re professionals. Have you ever had an argument with someone you’ve worked with?” Minaj said after repeated questions Tuesday about her reported feud with new fellow judge Carey.

Fox network executive Mike Darnell was asked by reporters if the clash was authentic. He said there was a lot of musical passion within the group, which also includes country star Keith Urban and returning judge Randy Jackson, and that triggered disagreements.

“The fighting is what it is,” Carey said at one point. “This is ‘American Idol.’ It’s bigger than all that. It’s bigger than some stupid trumped-up thing.”

Reports that the two divas were at odds surfaced last fall. On “The View,” Barbara Walters recounted a phone conversation with Carey in which the pop star said that Minaj threatened to shoot her after a taping. The rapper responded with dismissive tweets.

After their briefly testy exchange Tuesday, Carey and Minaj responded to a request to say something nice about each other — and they did.

South Korea puts a damper on Rain

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s Defense Ministry has decided to confine pop star Rain to his base for a week for meeting with an actress while on duty.

The penalty is the lightest a South Korean soldier can face. Paparazzi photos recently showed Rain with actress Kim Tae-hee when he wasn’t allowed to have private meetings while outside his base for official duties such as recording and performing.

Rain is fulfilling his two-year mandatory military service as an “entertainment soldier.” His meetings with Kim raised suspicions that the military was coddling popular entertainers with special favors. Officials deny it.

Rain has starred in the Hollywood films “Speed Racer” and “Ninja Assassin.” Time magazine named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2011.

McConaughey says family fuels success

NEW YORK – Actor Matthew McConaughey credits his growing family for the success that 2012 brought him.

“One, they ground you. Two, when you have that kind of structure at home and you feel stable at home it makes it much easier to fly higher and wider when you’re outside of home,” McConaughey said Monday at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

The 43-year-old received the best supporting actor honor for “Magic Mike” and “Bernie.” He garnered critical success in 2012 for “Mud” and “The Paperboy.”

“Got a great family that loves what I do, they’re happy for Papa when Papa is happy. Papa is happy when he’s working, and they like it when Papa goes to work,” he said of his busy year.

McConaughey married longtime girlfriend Camila Alves in June. He announced last month on his Whosay page that Alves had given birth to their third child, Livingston, on Dec. 28.

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